Joie Saffron SI

The Joie Saffron SI all-in-one car seat is well-labeled and easy to use, and offers excellent crash protection in CR’s tests. It can accommodate children from 4 to 120 lbs. and transitions from rear-facing harnessed car seat all the way to forward-facing backless booster seat as your child grows. But CR’s testers found that there are many additional layers of pads for parents to keep track of (and to trap crumbs and snacks in), and many of the removable pads are required for different stages of the seat’s use. The Joie Saffron’s side-impact feature design may also limit which seating positions it can be installed in, if your car has vehicle seatback bolsters that are on the larger side (in fact, our testers think that back seat passengers seated next to the Joie Saffron are likely to bump into the side-impact features on this car seat). On the plus side, this seat is lighter than many other all-in-one car seats, which makes it easy to move between vehicles as needed, and it features push-on LATCH connectors and a seat belt tensioner to help make a secure installation easier.

This seat may be a good choice for: 

• Families who want to purchase an all-in-one car seat (as opposed to using an infant seat for the first year and then switching to a convertible seat)
• Anyone who needs a simple and straightforward installation process, thanks to clear labeling on the seat itself
• Cars with a small back seat
• Parents of preemies over 4 lbs
   

Ease of use: The Joie Saffron SI all-in-one is an easy-to-use car seat for parents and other caregivers alike, with push-on LATCH connectors, a seat belt tensioner for a secure installation, and an easy-to-follow manual and labels. The seat comes with multiple layers of removable pads, which could be difficult to keep track of, but many are required for use. The seat’s narrow base may make it a little wobbly as your older child is climbing in and out. CR’s testers also noted that the labels for the expiration date do not agree: One says the car seat expires 10 years from the date of purchase, while another label says the car seat expires 10 years from the date of manufacture, which could lead to confusion. 

Fit-to-vehicle LATCH: This seat provides excellent forward-facing fit when used with the lower anchors and tether strap, but routing the LATCH belts in rear-facing mode is somewhat complicated, as you need to remove much of the padding and seat cover first.

Fit-to-vehicle belt: The seat installs very well in forward-facing mode with the seat belt, but in rear-facing position, the belt path routing was more complicated.

Booster Fit: The manual requirement that the shoulder belt guides be even with the child's shoulders places the shoulder belt more outboard on the dummy’s shoulders than would be ideal. The narrow seat base can allow the seat to wobble.  

Crash protection: This seat performed well in CR’s crash test protocol and did not exhibit significant structural integrity issues.

Additional Information

Good to know: All child car seats sold in the United States are required to meet government safety standards. 

About our testing: Consumer Reports’ child car seat tests are not designed to test compliance with federal standards. Rather, we evaluate car seat performance under conditions designed by our experts that go beyond the required federal safety standards. Consumer Reports’ independent car seat crash test program has been carefully designed to simulate the forces encountered during a crash, while replicating some of the real-world factors that might impact a car seat’s performance. Our testing aims to determine which car seats could provide an extra level of safety when compared to other models in the same category. 

Basic, Better, or Best: CR rates the child car seats we crash test on a scale of Basic, Better, and Best, based on the additional margin of safety they may provide. Read about how we test car seats to learn more about our crash test protocol.

The Joie Saffron SI is part of the Car Seats test program at Consumer Reports. In our lab tests, Harnessed Car Seats models like the Saffron SI are rated on multiple criteria, such as those listed below.

Ease of use: Our judgment of how easy each seat is to use including the clarity of labels and instructions, adjustments of clips and buckles, the transition of the seat between modes and installation features such as LATCH connections, belt paths, top tethers and booster guides.

Forward facing fit-to-vehicle: A rating of how compatible, easy and secure a child car seat can be correctly installed in the forward-facing direction. This rating is a combination of the LATCH system and belt ratings that are available individually on the model page.

Rear facing fit-to-vehicle: A rating of how compatible, easy and secure a child car seat can be correctly installed in the rear-facing direction. This rating is a combination of LATCH system and belt ratings that are available individually on the model page.